Dossiers de presse

It was no tremendous surprise when the Republicans lost big in November 2008. And yet, no one could have predicted the identity crisis that lay ahead for the G.O.P. The party that once seemed as unified as a standing army has fractured into various camps. No one speaks for the party as a whole; instead, an array of minor voices battle for national attention. John McCain’s daughter, Meghan McCain, writes a political blog, appears on talk shows, and promotes her vision of a socially liberal Republican comeback. Rush Limbaugh is still hosting the radio talk show he’s done since the late eighties, and is still spouting his anti-immigrant, pro-patriotism, anti-taxation views. Somewhere in the middle, there is Michael Steele, the recently-elected chairman of the Republican National Committee. Loud-mouthed and hip with the youngsters, Steele has already offended conservative Republicans on multiple occasions.

This essay will look at the ways in which the ethics of the BBC have been manifested, compromised and disputed by drawing upon particular instances of crisis, both in its endorsement of certain popular culture personalities in its programming, and in its BBC News coverage of international events such as the Iraq war and the Arab-Israeli conflict. We shall see the controversy that has surrounded the BBC in recent times and investigate the various debates on public morality, journalistic integrity and cultural sensitivity that have ensued.

The overall level of gun crime in the UK accounts for less than 0.5% of all crime recorded by the police. However, the number of overall offences involving firearms has been increasing each year since 1997/98. Also alarming is the rise in the number of young people carrying real or imitation firearms. Gun crime in the United Kingdom is perceived as an ever increasing threat.

“The year of the Bee (Basically Everyone’s Electable)”: so wrote a journalist for Times Newspapers on December 6, 2007, regarding the United States presidential campaigns presently underway. Referring to the levels of diversity on both the Democratic and the Republican fronts, the Times journalist concludes, “It used to be said that American politics was the preserve of the Wasps (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants). The year 2008, by contrast, is set to prove the year of the Bee (Basically Everyone's Electable).”